Thousands of supporters of an immigration overhaul demonstrate in Minneapolis, one of more than 150 rallies held nationwide.

Thousands of supporters of an immigration overhaul demonstrate in Minneapolis, one of more than 150 rallies held nationwide.

Photo: Jenn Ackerman, New York Times

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An immigration advocate helps hold up a American flag during a march in Los Angeles to put pressure on Congress.

An immigration advocate helps hold up a American flag during a march in Los Angeles to put pressure on Congress.

Photo: John Moore, Getty Images

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Gov. Brown signs law to limit immigrant detentions

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Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a measure barring state and local law enforcement agencies from detaining undocumented residents solely because of their immigration status. The bill mirrors a similar measure passed last month by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

The new bill, AB4 by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, was one of a handful of measures Brown signed Saturday that change the way the state deals with immigration issues. Earlier last week, he also approved a bill allowing undocumented residents to get a California driver's license.

"While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Brown said in a statement.

The governor vetoed a version of Ammiano's Trust Act last year, saying that it didn't allow police the discretion to hold people with a record of serious crimes for possible deportation. The new bill provides a long list of serious felonies that could keep people in custody on an immigration hold.

"The tide is turning," said Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, one of the organizations backing the measure. "California's historic legislation marks a shift of the pendulum away from the criminalization of immigrants and against the idea that police should have any role in immigration enforcement."

The federal Secure Communities program asks sheriffs to detain immigrants in the country unlawfully, but who are otherwise cleared for release, until federal authorities can pick them up for possible deportation.

The new bill garnered support, in part, because many undocumented residents are fearful of speaking with authorities, even when they witnessed or were the victim of a crime. The federal program was causing situations where they would call 911 to report violent crimes, only to be detained themselves.

Supporters of immigration reform held up those cases as reason California needed to withdraw from the federal program. Connecticut passed a similar law this year, and myriad cities and counties, including Santa Clara, already bar local police from cooperating with the holds.

Some 10 million immigrants call California home, about a quarter of the nation's foreign-born population. Since 2008, the Golden State has accounted for about 35 percent of the 280,000 deportations made under Secure Communities.

On Saturday, supporters marched at more than 150 sites across at least 40 states in rallies nationwide to push for congressional action on immigration reform.

Another measure Brown put into law allows immigrants in California unlawfully to be admitted as attorneys at law. Last year, Sergio Garcia made headlines when he passed the bar exam only to be suspended from practicing law a few weeks later on account of his immigration status.

Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, put forth a measure which Brown signed that says threatening to report an undocumented resident to authorities can be the basis for an extortion charge.